The earliest method of heating a building in America was the fireplace. To draw the smoke generated by the burning of the wood a draft must be constantly maintained in the chimney. Air drawn into the fireplace is expelled to the exterior of the building and none of the heat is circulated within the building itself, except for a small amount in the form of radiant energy.
Benjamin Franklin is credited with the concept of metal wood burning stoves. The fire in the Ben Franklin stove increased the radiation energy but nevertheless most of the heat of the burning wood is carried out the chimney to the exterior of the building.
After the advent of electricity forced air heating systems have been employed in which air is heated and distributed within the building so that the heat generated by the heating system is not entirely dependent upon only that which is radiated from the heat source. Today, the most common means of heating buildings and especially homes in the United States is the use of gas or oil fired furnaces with hot air being distributed by an electric motor operated fan. In the last few years the advent of the energy crisis has caused renewed interest in wood as a heating means. Fireplaces are becoming more popular but increase efficiency needs to be achieved so that a fireplace owner can gain economically from the use of wood as a heating fuel in addition to the aesthetic enjoyment of a wood burning fireplace.
The present invention is directed towards a heating system for a building and particularly a home, in which a fireplace can serve as the primary means of heating the home and in an arrangement wherein heat can be distributed from the fireplace to remote rooms.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved wood burning heating system for building.
More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide an improved heating system for buildings utilizing wood burned in an open hearth fireplace and including improved means of distributing heat generated by the burning wood to remote parts of the building.
These general objects as well as other and more specific objects of the invention will be fulfilled in the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.